Our breakfast treat today was Tangerine-Cranberry Scones with Tangerine & Lemon Marmalade:
TANGERINE-CRANBERRY SCONES
This recipe came from the Epicurious website and was originally published in Bon Appétit magazine in December 2001. The recipe called for crème fraîche or sour cream, neither of which was available to me. I used a quarter cup of panna fresca instead mixed with about a tsp. of white vinegar. I also plumped up my cranberries ahead of time by soaking them in hot water while I prepared the dough. Drain them well before using. Be forewarned the dough is quite sticky. I skipped the whole step of “kneading the dough briefly on a floured surface until smooth”. I find the less you handle scone dough, the more tender they are. I just dealt with the stickiness, and they came out fine. I think using parchment paper or a Silpat liner is quite important.
2 c. all purpose flour
1/3 c. sugar
2 T. grated tangerine peel
1 T. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ c. chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
½ c. dried cranberries
¼ c. crème fraîche or sour cream
3 T. fresh tangerine juice
1 large egg
2 tsp. melted butter
2 tsp. raw sugar (demerara or turbinado)
Preheat oven to 425 F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
Whisk flour, 1/3 c. sugar, peel, baking powder, and salt in bowl to blend.
Add ½ c. chilled butter. Using fingertips, rub in until mixture resembles coarse meal.
Mix in well-drained cranberries.
Whisk crème fraîche, tangerine juice and egg in a medium bowl to blend.
Gradually add flour mixture, using fork to toss until moist clumps form.
Knead dough briefly on lightly floured surface until smooth.
Pat dough into an 8-in round on your prepared baking sheet.
Cut into 8 equal wedges taking care not to cut paper. (You can just sort of score the dough.)
Brush with melted butter, and sprinkle over raw sugar.
Bake until golden about 12 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately cut through the wedges at the lines you scored earlier. Separate the wedges a bit to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature. (Can be made up to 1 month ahead. Cool completely. Wrap in foil and freeze; serve at room temperature.) I cannot vouch for frozen. I made them the night before I served them to the group.
TANGERINE AND LEMON MARMALADE
This recipe comes from the March 2010 Special Gardening Issue of Martha Stewart Living Magazine. I unfortunately decided to check emails while making jam. Never do this! Jam burns quite easily, and mine did. I tried to remove as many of the burned black little flecks as possible. But my marmalade still looks as though it contains black pepper. I now call it “Marmalata Affumicata”. I certainly wouldn’t burn it again on purpose, but I think the result was still edible. Be forewarned; the making of this marmalade is a two day process. But don’t let that scare you. It’s easy to make.
7 tangerines or oranges (do not peel), preferably organic, washed well, quartered and sliced ¼ inch thick. (I used 5 oranges and two tangerines.)
2 lemons (do not peel), preferably organic, washed well, quartered and sliced ¼ inch thick.
4 c. water
Granulated sugar (see measurement instruction within recipe)
Bring tangerines, oranges, lemons and water to a simmer in a large saucepan over medium heat.
Cook for five minutes. Let cool slightly.
Press parchment directly on surface of marmalade, and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, remove parchment, return to saucepan over medium heat.
Bring to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes until rinds are very tender.
Measure mixture, and return to saucepan over medium-high heat.
For each cup of the mixture, add ¾ c. of sugar.
Simmer another 30-45 minutes. (This is where you should not check your email.)
Plate test marmalade to make sure it has set.
Divide among 4-5 sterilized pint size jars, leaving ¼ in. headspace.
Can in water bath for 15 minutes.
Spaghetti alla Carbonara
3 tbsp of olive oil
2 70 grams packets of diced Pancetta
6 large eggs
2 cups grated Parmigiano Reggiano
Salt and Pepper
500 grams spaghetti
Bring large pot of salted water to a boil.
Heat the olive oil and cook pancetta until crisp. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and half the cheese together, adding a little salt and a generous pinch of pepper.
Cook the pasta in the boiling water until al dente, drain, and reserve a few spoonfuls of water. Return the pasta to the pot. Cook the pancetta until crisp, then add the pasta to the pancetta. Coat the pasta. Add the egg mixture to the pasta, tossing well to cook the eggs with the warmth of the pasta. Serve in warmed bowls with more Parmigiano Reggiano. The pasta should be creamy and shiny.
Note: We used only 2 packets of pancetta but clearly needed more. Try at least 3.
Variation: Add grated zucchini to the pancetta.
Hey, look what I made!
Preparing the Spaghetti alla Carbonara
Agretti with a Lemon Garlic Sauce &/or a Spicy Garlic Sauce
(recipe visible on Flavor of Italy blog)
So what are agretti? Check these links to learn all about them!
Steamed and ready to eat
Trimmed & thoroughly washed
Agretti before cleaning
MUSSEL SOUP (Zuppa di Cozze)
Recipe comments
Recipe came from internet site http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Amazing-Mussels/Detail.aspx. I used chicken broth instead of beef broth, a pickled jalapeño pepper and about a teaspoon of chili flakes instead of chili pepper, but I will put the original recipe.
For a healthier option use olive oil instead of butter and eliminate the cream. Instead of the beef broth, a fresh vegetable broth can be made by boiling celery, carrots and onions until tender.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons minced garlic
4 shallots, chopped
4 cups beef broth
1 jalapeño pepper, minced
1 red chili pepper, minced
4 fresh tomatoes, coarsely chopped
20 fresh basil leaves, torn
2 cups white wine
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup light cream
5 pounds fresh mussels, scrubbed and debearded
Directions
Melt butter in a large stockpot over medium heat.
Add garlic and shallots, and cook, stirring constantly, until lightly browned.
Add a splash of the beef broth, jalapeno, and red chile pepper, and simmer for a few minutes to blend the flavors.
Add the tomatoes, basil leaves, white wine, and remaining beef broth.
Bring to a boil.
Dissolve cornstarch in a small amount of the light cream, and pour it and the rest of the cream into the stock pot.
Return to a boil, and add the mussels.
Cook until all of the shells have opened, about 5 minutes.
Ready to be eaten!
SOUTH AFRICAN MILK TART (MELKTERT)
Notes from the original recipe supplier: This comes from my scrapbook of tried and tested recipes which I have used for the last 35 years. The base is really easy to make and instead of rolling you just 'press' the dough into a pie plate and bake for 10-12 minutes. The filling is made on the stovetop (or microwave) and no further baking is required. This is a truly delicious, not-too-sweet custard type tart. Individual small milktarts can be made by pressing base into patty pans. Base can be baked in advance and custard made on the day.
We baked the bases for longer, for about 20 minutes.
Base ingredients
125 g butter
100 g caster sugar
1 egg
275 g flour
10 ml baking powder
2 ml salt
Filling ingredients
1 litre milk, plus 125 ml milk
3 eggs
30 g flour
25 g butter
150 g sugar
30 g cornflour
5 ml vanilla essence
2 ml salt
10 ml ground cinnamon
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 200 degrees celcius.
Grease 2 pie plates with a volume of 1 liter each.
TO MAKE THE BASE
Cream the butter and sugar.
Add the egg and mix.
Sift the flour baking powder and salt together.
Mix the flour mixture with the egg mixture.
Break off pieces and use your fingers to press the dough into the base and sides of the pans to form the crust.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the sides start to brown lightly and remove from oven.
TO MAKE THE FILLING
Heat the 1 liter of milk and butter to boiling point.
Separate 2 of the eggs keeping the egg whites apart.Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form.
Mix the 125ml extra milk, 1 whole egg, 2 egg yolks, sugar, flour,cornflour and salt to a paste.
Gradually add a little of the boiled milk to this mixture.
Then add this mixture to the rest of the boiled milk and beat with a whisk to prevent lumps from forming.
Bring this mixture to the boil stirring all the time until it thickens.
Add vanilla essence and stir through.
Fold the whisked egg whites into the hot custard.
Pour this filling into the baked bases and sprinkle cinnamon over the top.
Allow milktart to cool down completely until mixture is set.
Note: Custard can be made in advance, kept chilled and then added to crust at last minute. If under a time constraint, prepare custard first so it has time to chill & set while you prepare the crust.
MICROWAVE NOTE:
To make the custard in the microwave heat the milk for about 8 minutes (in a 900w oven).
Once the egg mixture has been added return to the microwave for about 6 minutes, stirring after each minute to prevent lumps forming and continue as per instructions.
If you are using extra large eggs increase the amount of cornflour, otherwise the 'custard' will be less firm, but still delicious!
Ready for the oven!
